Saint Joan

Saint Joan is playing the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre located at 261 West 47th Street. It runs two hours thirty minutes with one intermission. The play closes on June 10, 2018.

The play was written by George Bernard Shaw. It premiered on December 18, 1923 at the Garrick Theatre in New York City. Actresses that played Joan in New York City were Katherine Cornell (1936), Uta Hagen (1951), Diana Sands (1968) and Lynn Redgrave (1978).

Daniel Sullivan is the director. He won a Tony Award for Proof (2001) and was nominated for five Tony awards for Rabbit Hole (2011), Morning at Seven (2002), The Sisters Rosenweig (1993), Conversations With My Father (1992) and The Heidi Chronicles (1989).

Scott Pask is the scenic designer. He won three Tony Awards for The Book of Mormon (2011), The Coast of Utopia (2007), The pillow man (2005 and was nominated for two Tony Awards for Pal Joey (2009) and Les Liaison Dangereuses (2008).

Jane Greenwood has been nominated foe 26 Tony Awards and has won for The Little Foxes (2017).

Condola Rashad has been nominated for three Tony Awards for A Doll’s house, Part 2 (20017), The Trip to Bountiful (20013) and Stick Fly (2012).

John Glover won a tony Award for Love! Valour! Compassion! (1995) and was nominated for a Tony Award for Waiting for Godot (2007).

Daniel Sujata was nominated for a Tony Award for Take Me out in 2003.

The play takes place in 1429. The French have been at war with England for ninety years. Many of the regions are under British rule.

Joan (Condola Rashard) meets Robert de Baudricourt (Patrick Page) and his son Stewart (Robert Stanton). God talks to her and he has told her how to get rid of the English. She needs men to lead into battle. Stewart believes her. Joan says she needs men’s clothes and because they will not follow her if she is dressed as a woman.

She has other visions from saints telling her things.

They win the battles with the English and get parts of France back. The king, Charles VII (Adam Chandler-Berat) is crowned.

Forces are trying to arrest Joan. Bishop Beauvais (Walter Bobbie), Warwick (Jack Davenport) and Archbishop (John Glover) are meeting on how to bring her down. They say she is a witch, and heretic. The bishop says she in just a maiden that has been misled.

In the meantime Joan suggest to Dunois (Daniel Sunjata) that they should still fight to get Paris back. He says no and so does the king. They finally say yes but if things go wrong they will not help her.

Joan is caught and arrested in 1431. Six months after her arrest she is before the inquisition. Some say she is innocent that she has no understanding of the church. She signs a paper agreeing to that thinking she will be set free. Instead she will spend the rest of her life in jail. Not having that she recants her admission. She is burned at the stake.

In 1921 she is made a saint.

I did not like the first act. There was too much repetitive information. Especially about Joan being a heretic.

The second act had more substance for me. I would have cut down some of the scenes because they kept going on and on.

The ending is quirky.

Scot Pask set has me wondering. It looks like to pipes of an organ. I’m still trying to decide what meaning he wants to get across.

Review by Rozanna Radakovich

Photos by Annazor.

To read a candid interview with the cast, scroll down to the left for photos. Click on photos for this and other shows.